[ female announcer ] pop in a whole new kind of clean. with tide pods. just one removes more stains than the 6 next leading pacs combined pop in. stand out. and a good saturday afternoon to you. you're watching msnbc, the place for politics. 24 days now until election day, three days until the next presidential debate, and this is why mitt romney and paul ryan are spending so much time in the

buckeye state. 51%, 45%. they are both there today. we're going to listen to mitt romney live in just a moment. topping our political headlines, though, within the hour, president obama is scheduled to land in newport, virginia, he's on his way to williamsburg where he's preparing for tuesday. he used the radio and internet address to focus on the economy, touting the impact of the bailout. >> to let detroit go bankrupt. i bet on american work and ingenuity and three years later that bet is paying off in a big kwa. today auto sales are higher thain even about been in three years. gm is back. ford and chrysler are growing again. we've created a quart ore of a a million new jobs right here in america. >> mitt romney holding a rally in ohio. this hour. it's about to get under way. in fact, we're going get a live

update from the campaign trail in just a moment. in their weekly address, republicans also talking about the economy. it was delivered by oklahoma congressional candidate mark wayne mullet. >> he gets it. republican majority in the house has passed several bipartisan common sense proposals to address regulation that hurts jobs. meanwhile police in colorado are investigating a shooting at president obama's denver campaign office. officials say people were inside when a shot was fired through the office window flid afternoon, fortunately no one was hurt. police say they have a description of what they're calling at this point a vehicle of interest. more on all of these hours throughout the next three hours right here on msnbc. as we just mentioned, mitt romney packing his schedule tight today in ohio. you're looking at live pictures

from portsmouth, romney's first stop before heading to another rally in lebanon, ohio, later this afternoon. our peter alexander continues his travels with the romney campaign. he joins us live now. we understand the romney campaign is seeing much larger crowds. is today's rally looking like lit have a similar turnout? >> reporter: that's a good question. not as big as the rallies, but be clear we have seen some of the biggest rallies we've seen. 12,000 at a rally in cuyahoga falls. on tuesday, 9,000 in sydney hollywood ohiond a wednesday close to 9,000. make no mistake. that's why they're spending some form in each of the last five days in this state with others elsewhere. there will be two more stops also. we're listening to the senator ron portman of ohio who also happens to be mitt romney's

sparring partner. perhaps the two of them going head to head in a hotel not far from where we were staying as they prepare for tuesday's critical debate as well. >> hey, peter, according to that latest poll, romney down just a few points there behind president obama in ohio, inching closer by the day. what's different about the romney campaign strategy in the buckeye state right now versus that strategy maybe say two weeks ago? >> reporter: i think it's pretty clear that romney feels much more confident. he feels much more loose as he interacts with voters and delivers his stump speech. it's because of that debate performance about ten days or sore now. when we were on the trail for months, craig, it was very clear that people were here because they did not like president obama. increasingly they're here because they believe mitt romney is the guy that can beat him and lead this country.

whether it's strategic or not, that's the biggest take away. stay technologically on the ground they're flooding ohio and other swing states with advertising, spending, restore our future. that's the primary super pac that has been supporting mitt romney from the start. there's some reporting today that they're now spending $14 million across nine swing states, and the last week of this month, that's more than they spent in all of september combined. and here comes mitt romney. >> peter alexander, a fantastic segue, my friend. well done. we'll stay there in portsmouth ohio as governor romney makes his way to the podium. pete, if you can stand by as well. once we're done listening to the governor, we want to bring you back in and talk do you as well. we should note here this is the fourth skek tirch day that mitt romney has been in ohio. in case you haven't heard it's a key swing state for 18 electoral

states. then he's going to travel to lebanon. the strategy by mitt romney, crystal clear. they want it and they want it bad. let's take a listen. mitt romney in portsmouth. [ chanting ] >> romney! romney! romney! >> thank you. what a beautiful day. what a wonderful opportunity to be here. thank you for that great welcome. thank you, senator, portman, i'm delighted as well we're going to see a new congressman? where is he? right over here. thank you, doctor. where'd he go. we're going get you elected. appreciate the chance to be with you today and to spend some time and talk about the course ahead for our great nation. we face some extraordinary challenges as you know.

and you've gathered today not just to listen to a couple of people to speak but to think about the future of the country that you love and to ask yourself how it is that america is going to be able to face up to the challenges we have. i can tell you i'm 1100% confident we're going. know the american heart. i've seen the people of this country. i believe in you, and i believe in america. [ cheers and place ] >> now as the senator said it's been an interesting day. i had a debasement i enjoyed it, i've got to be honest with you. i got to ask the president some questions people across the country want to ask him like why it was with 23 million americans out of work struggling to find a good job that he spent his first two years fighting for obama care which made it harder to get jobs. i got ask him why it was with

gasoline price twice as high as when he took office, he cut in half the number of permits and licences on federal lands and federal waters for drilling for oil and gas. why it was with a deficit of a trillion dollar, record-breaking dell sit, that he spent $90 billion sending money to green energy companies, some of whom had contributors that had given to his campaign. i got to ask him why it was that he had promised health insurance premiums would go down by $2,000 per family and yet they've gone up by $2,000 per family and the only ansz he had a few weeks ago was this. jose, you know you kent change washington from the inside. we're going to change it from the outsiechld we're going to give him that chance on november 6th. [ cheers and applause ] >> and i've got more questions now, of course. we may get a chance to ask these

as well. why it is with 47 million people on food stamps -- you think about that. when he took office, there were 32 million people on food stamps. he's now add 15 million more, all right? more than the population of ohio. the income of the median family in america has gone down by $4,300 per family. in times like this, what is he talking about? saving big bird. when i'm president i'm going to help save the american family and get good jobs for every american. [ cheers and applause ] >> as i look around portsmouth today, let me tell you. his campaign is about smaller and smaller things and our campaign is about bigger and bigger things. >> there is governor mitt romney there at shawnee state university in portsmouth, ohio. you've been listening to a few minutes there of his stump

speech, a familiar stump speech in the few minute yos u heard him talk about obama karks health care, gas prices and ending oned by bird. let's go ahead and bring in the panel now if we can. a.b. stoddard from the hill. usually we have you in double boxes. let's start with romney on the stump. what you are hearing now versus what you were hearing two weeks ago. big difference or small difference? >> i think peter touched on it. i've been watching him since he was governor of massachusetts. right now you see a much more confident campaigner. he's rattling off statistics and

speaking with confidence. one thing he always said on the trail was he could not wait for his first debate with president obama to take some of these criticisms to him face to face and in that first debate, he really delivered on that promise. he took it to the president and the confidence he had been building over the years has been growing ten-fold in the last ten days. >> a.b., whoever you think won the v.p. debate, both ryan and joe biden won in terms of politics. the question at this point is how do the guys aet the top of the ticket, how do they capitalize on that? >> how do they move forward? >> mitt romney has to do what he did last week again or ten days ago. he needs to do that again. if you watched mitt romney he wasn't a good debater at all. i don't think he was in '07 or '08 or '11. but, boy, this year he's turned into a terrific debater.

i think president obama has the greatest challenge. he's not joe biden. he's never given in the campaign so far as passionate the way joe biden did the other night. he has to do that. he has to be as convincing, probably more. he has to look like he wants it, like he's enjoying it as much as joe biden. >> like he wants to actually be there, be in the debate. >> and wants the job. >> we've seen a shake-up of sorts in the polls here lately with governor romney gaining some ground. today's tracking poll shows that mitt romney is now lead big two points there among likely voters. the romney camp pushing it. how much success are they having with that part of the debate. with the again benn ga city stuff? >> definitely. you saw it coming into and out of that vice-presidential debate.

paul ryan had the branding as this economic policy wonk and yet the first question that he faced was the administration's handling of the libyan attack and the assault on benghazi and he ended up taking the case to the vice president through the beginning of that debate and that's just been more fuel for the romney campaign ever since. you saw hillary clinton and the president saying nobody wants more than them to find out exactly what happened. so they have the administration responding to the terms of their debate where it used to be the administration was taking the fight to them, they're now taking the fight to the administration. >> i want to bring in peter alexander once again. peter travels with mitt romney. as they get ready for the debate, how much of the debate can we expect to be on benghazi and spent on the president's record on foreign policy?

>> reporter: well, obviously that remains in the hands of the voters in that room with both mitt romney and the president. but, craig, we know there are only two debates left. the second will be focused on foreign policy. the truth of the matter, when he speaks to the voters, their concern is less on that. when mitt romney was attacking joe biden yesterday, referring to his remarks saying that the m-1 tanks should cease to be produced, those tanks are produced here in the state of ohio in a town called lima, and in that community, they of course, are heavily offended by that, some of the others say it's not necessary because other countries will continue to need tanks. the one conversation i had with the top adviser yesterday was one of the challenges for mitt romney in this second debate that didn't exist in the first is the interaction with voters. as an adviser described to me,

you have to know what to do with the body. how do you engage with the folks there? >> that's something that the president has believed to be particularly good at, certainly the romney folks are trying to build up expectations for the president and mitt romney will have to see whether he can deliver in that format as well. >> we're going to talk about that later in this broadcast. thanks so much. we appreciate you. we'll let you hop on that bus, ab stoddard, if you don't mind, stick around. up next, though, the issue that's shaking up things inside the obama campaign this weekend. we're going to talk to obama surrogate, former pennsylvania congressman patrick murphy. lots more still ahead. this is msnbc.

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the attack in libya that killed ambassador stevens and three other americans is quickly moving to the forefront. the obama administration under fire for contradictions in the aftermath and questions about who knew what and when. the topic dominated much of thursday night's vice-presidential debate and it's continuing today. romney camp continuing push hard on it. >> when the prp vice president the united states directly contradicts the testimony, sworn testimony of state department officials, american citizens have a right to know just what's going on. and we're going to find out. >> that was governor romney yesterday in richmond, virginia. how much of an impact will this issue have on the president's standing with regard to foreign policy. he's a surrogate for the obama

cam paper. do appreciate you spending part of your afternoon with us, sir. >> great being back on here, buddy. >> a lot of con nutrition, a lot of second-guessing about what happened in benghazi. here's what republican congressman darrell issa had to say earlier. take a listen. >> they repeatedly warned washington officials about dangerous situation in libya. instead of, however, moving swiftly to respond to these concerns, washington officials seemed preoccupied with the concept of normization. >> at the debate the vice president said, quote, we did not know that they needed -- excuse me -- that they wanted more security. was thursday's debate a missed opportunity by the obama administration to explain exactly what happened in libya? >> well, i thought joe biden was pretty clear, craig, and this is the problem now you. have people like paul ryan, darrell issa, and mitt romney all trying to politicize the

death of our ambassador and three other great americans. they're trying to play monday morning quarterbacking and there was something that wasn't said. the president was very clear when he said it was a terrorist attack the very next day. but let me tell you something else. general clapp, he report ed to the white house that there are a bunch of protests across the middle east and tripoli and elsewhere. that's what they put out at first and it's mixed whether or not there was actually a protest at benghazi or not. in a sense it doesn't make a difference. it was a terrorist attack. >> here's the thing, congressman. i think a lot of folks would say it does make a difference because if folks who are in benghazi are asking for additional security and you've got the vice president saying, no, we didn't hear anything about this. >> let me be very clear. there's a report this morning,

great article in "the new york times" that was very clear. there was security requested, but, craig, that was for tripoli, the capital of libya. benghazi is 400 miles away. the security requested was for tripoli, not benghazi. also, let me be cheer it was paul ryan who cut security funding at the state department, $300 million. it's just unbelievable. >> but it should be noted the state department said there were no budget issues with regard to security. the state department has said at least money was not the issue. i want to get your take on something else because i know you served in the army. you probably have experience with how the military protects diplomats and v.i.p.s. do you think we're serve our

ambassadors as well overseas? >> i do. when you do more, it costs money, craig, and we need to make sure we're very clear. here we have an embassy in tripoli and a consulate with ambassador stevens 400 miles away in benghazi, both very important. we need to make sure we protect these folks. we need to make sure they're being protected. they're in harm's way. if we want to make sure they get all the protection they need, they erin, why would you cut $300 million. but it's a pattern with ryan and romney. he tried to cut veterans benefit 1/1%. when heroes come back, paul ryan was one of only 12 congressmen of 435 that voted against the post-9/11 g.i. bill. >> why is that important?

when you have veterans every single day committing suicide because we ask them to take on our safety and we don't cake care of them. you can't have it both was. you can't turn around and criticize when we could do more. >> i hate to interrupt. there's a new ad out today. this one -- it's a positive issues ad about the president. i want to play a clip and talk about it on the other side. take a look, listen to the question. >> few have faced so many. four years later, our enemies have been brought to justice. our heroes are coming home. assembly lines are humming again. >> "time" magazine columnist joe klein wrote earlier this week the president needs to, quote, descend from the mountaintop and make his best case for keeping the job. is this the best strategy shift

we're seeing today? >> i think so. he needs to let paem know unlike mitt romney who said let detroit go bankrupt, we double down. also we cannot go back to failed bush policies that got us into this problem to begin with. that's basically what the ryan romney budget is trying to do and when you looked at the debate the other night, craig, and think the nikt two debates you're going to see more of this, paul ryan was very clear. he was being straightforward in saying, you know, i think we should privatize social security. paul ryan was the point man for jorm bush to privatize social security. it went around the country. it basically went other like a turd in a punch bowl. >> every time i have you on you're also so impassioned. when are you going to run for

something? >> my wife would kill me. we have two little kids. i'm making sure everybody votes for president obama. >> mitt romney with a face-off with president obama. will he keep that edge? more ahead in the war room. then a little bit later bill clinton has got some big plans to rock out on behalf of president obama. who's going to be playing with him? might surprise you just a bit. this is msnb skr.

clinton has got some big plans ♪

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good saturday to you. here are some stories making news. the head of al qaeda is calling for more protests. in a new audio recording it's reportedly ahman al za we'rery. malawa yousafzai is recovering in a hospital where doctors say she is able to move her hands and her feet. she was shot in the head earlier this week. vice president biden is in the northeast with fund raidsers in connecticut and new york city. he's fresh off that debate performance that drew high praise from the left and sharp criticism from the right. here's the vice president's take. >> anyone who watched that debate, i don't think there's any doubt that congressman ryan

and i, governor romney and the president, we have a fundamentally different vision for america and the truth is that they were listening and if they do they know the differences and they know how it can fundamentally affect the direction of this country. >> carrie, good afternoon to you. >> thanks for having me. >> was the blueprint what we can expect from the president? >> i can tell you after the president's debate in denver, there was hesitancy. the senior advisers didn't come to talk to them right away. they were very pleased with the vice president's performance. i think they think that they drew blood on issues like afghanistan and abortion in dags

to thinks like medicaid, medicare and social security. they were really happy with his form answer how aggressive he was. he at times was interrupting ryan as so many people notice add lot. they noticed biden's laughter during the debate. >> the smirk. >> yeah, that's true. and the advisers seemed very happy with that. they said, look, if the other side is critiquing us on the style points, then the vice president did what he had to do there and i think it sets the stage going into the debate, the town hall-style of debate president obama and mitt romney will have to face next week. lit not show that lethargy we saw in denver. >> carrie dann tracking it for us. thank you. >> thanks a lot. since their first debate, he's been criticizing him for changing his positions on the issue. it's an attack line mitt romney has face md times before but governor romney is thriving

since that third debate, a pew poll taken days after the debate shows governor romney would take 49% of the vote. up 6%. could calling mitt romney a flip flopper actually fall on deaf ears this time around? joining me blake zef. he's also a former aid to mr. obama and hillary clinton and also chip. he managed mike huckabee's 2008 presidential campaign. good afternoon to both of you gentlemen. >> good afternoon. >> it augurgues that mitt romne would risk being called a flip-flopper, that it may not be such a bad thing to be a flip-flopper in this day and ainge. explain the reasoning. explain the logic. >> traditionally it's been a deadly label.

you may not agree with him on everything but you know where he stood, that john kerr where was a flip-flopper. now mitt romney is gambling that that's no longer the case, no longer a deadly tag. so a couple weeks ago, it's hard to remember but mitt romney was facing long odds. his donors were upset, his supporters were leaking to the press it was a doomed campaign so what romney decided to do is begin to soften or shift some of his positions and obviously it's working. he's made that gamble that it's better to be called a flip-flopper than too extreme. >> so perhaps shaking an etch a sketch. >> perhaps shaking an etch a sketch is not as dastardly as it once was. >> chip, i want to ask you about that. president obama went after

governor romney over his changes positions this week. here's what he had to say about romney thursday during a campaign rally. take a listen. >> he's trying to go through an extreme makeover. after running for more than a year after calls himself severely conservative, mitt romney is tries to convince you he's severely -- >> would you believe that? >> i think what we saw of barack obama is a prae view of what we're going see in the next debate. i think he got knocked in the jaw in the first debate and i think this week and going into next week's debate you're going to see him attack, attack, attack.

i think at the end of the day calling somebody a flip-flopper, it gives people a reason to pause and they say, what does he believe? >> and governor romney certainly seems to provide ammunition for those claims. just this week, the abortion stuff and all of a sudden, you know, he's saying one thing about abortion. if i'm elected. there wouldn't be any legislation with regards to abortion. it does seem unusual, blake. >> and it's not just abortion. >> he said tax policy, dodd franks immigration. there were five essentially flip-flops in one week. you know, it's not unusual for politicians to do that, but in one week five is a lot. >> is the campaign depending on the short attention span? >> i think it's one or two other things. one, i think they saw the

positions that romney took in the primary may have been necessary to get the republicans which were really far to the right. i think they realized one month out this wasn't working and they had to do something different. the other thing is bill clinton had aurjed the campaign not go after the flip-flopping but to paint him more as a conservative, the idea being that if voters think that he's a flip-flopper, they may not be so worried about his positions because, well, you know, he may not mean what he says. >> he's hunkering down to prepare for the campaign. >> when you have 20 something days ahead, time is running against you. do we put him out in key

battleground states or prepare him for the biggest debate of his life. he took a big shot. it knocked him off his game. now you look at the polls where he's moving forward. these are tough decisions. my guess is if there's going to be 50 or 60 million watching the second debate with bated breath, he's probably doing the right thing. >> blake zeff, chip saltsman, do appreciate your time on this saturday. >> thanks, craig. coming up our flashback to an opening debate question which went down in history as an absolute game-changer. then a little bit later, we're going to make politics finger-lickin' good with the help of hickory smoked pulled pork. this is msnbc, a place for barbecue and politics. wling bal. wling bal. that was ups. and who called ups? you did, bob. i just asked a question. it takes a long time to pack a bowling ball. the last guy pitched more ball packers. but you... you consulted ups.

you found a better way. that's logistics. that's margin. find out what else ups knows. i'll do that. you're on a roll. that's funny. i wasn't being funny, bob. i know.

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dominated political headlines. the soviet with drew from afghanistan and bush took on dukakis. it was 24 years ago today that george h.w. bush squared off against dukakis in the second debate. it followed the war in which they painted dukakis as weak on crime and so this was how that debate began. >> the first question goes to governor dukakis. you have two minutes to respond. governor, if kitty dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor and irrevocable death penalty for the killer? >> no, i don't, bernard, and i think you know i've opposed the death penalty all of my light. i don't see it as evidence as a deterrent. i think there are better and more effective ways to fight crime and we've down so in my

state. we've had the biggest drop, why we have the lowest murder in any state in america but we have work to do in this nation. we have work do to fight a real war, not a phony war against drugs and that's something i want to lead, something we haven't had ore the course of the past many years eve though the vice president has been at least allegedly in charge of that war. >> and so it went. bubba and the boss. president obama and bruce springsteen will appear at an event in ohio. it will be open to the public. the boss also campaigned for the president four years ago, you might remember. no word on whether clinton grabs his sax and jams out with bruce on stage. >> i didn't expect to be quite

so involved in this cam paper. i have now a daughter who's working for a television network and a wife who's got only one of two jobs in the government, the other being the department of defense, that's prohibited from participating in electoral politics, so you're stuck with me. >> we should note here that tv network is this one. chelsea clinton is a special correspondent here at nbc. >> they tuque the winners of a campaign contest, all online donors, to dinner on eighth street in washington, d.c. obama's guests all just happen to be from three battleground states, north carolina, ohio, and colorado. president obama will be visiting comedy central's daily show next thursday.

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president obama hunkering down preparing iffer a second debasement for his part, governor romney getting fired up by rallying voters in ohio, aiming to capitalize on that strong debate performance in round one. >> as i look around portsmouth today, let me tell you. his campaign is about smaller and smaller things and our campaign is about bigger and bigger crowds fight for a bright future. >> that was governor romney in portsmouth, ohio, about 40 minutes ago. the panel is back in washington. a.b. stored ard, associate

editor and columnist for the hill and here, glen. joking about making staff do their home work. this last time around he doesn't seem to be taking any chances. going to be poring over his notes preparing for this debasement just landed into williamsburg, we're told. what does he have to focus on in debate number two? >> think wee going to see him take the fight to mitt romney in very specific terms. we have a senate race up in massachusetts. >> we've heard. >> they're under way right now. it's been almost the same ebb and flow between the two debate series. you saw elizabeth warren going after scott brown in very specific terms and i think what joe biden started to do with paul ryan last week and what the president is going to do on turs and the reason he's getting so schooled on the particulars is he wants to specifically say

where he thinks mitt romney has fallen short and make mitt romney explain or defend the policy proposals he's been making. >> a.b., the format on tuesday town hall format, one would assume this would be a format more beneficial to the president than the governor in terms of their style, no? >> yeah, but i do think mitt romney has gotten much more effective on the stump, much more confident, and i think because he had such great debate performance in their first debate and he sort of comes in, i think that he's going to be better, probably answering those questions from voters than he might have been a month ago or in a different time and place, so i don't think that the obama camp should come in thinking that mitt romney's going to step all over himself in that setting. i think he's probably preparing as well style is particularly how it's going go and what it will require of him and he has a

very nice voice and a very nice smile and he's able to talk to voters much more ably than he was a month ago. >> he has a very nice voice and a very nice smile. this is a compliment coming from you, a.b. stoddard. >> well, he does. the story in "the washington post" quoting a republican media strategist. i want to make sure i get the quote right. advertising at the end typically makes the biggest difference to those voters. how effective are those last-minute adds? >> you've seen voters. you've seen that. but there's people still watching these final two debates. they probably have a soft feeling toward one of the other candidates and they'll wait and

see if there's any game-changing moment in these final two debates. that's where if they're still susceptible to one of these, especially the last-minute negative adds, it can push them in into one of the other camps. >> a.b., before you get out of here, mitt romney making case he's the bipartisan candidate, that he walked across the aisle with massachusetts democratic legislator. how do they counter that that his work to block much of his agenda is congress? >> well, thank president obama will have to be schooled in the record that mitt romney had in massachusetts and it it is case when he was passion his health care law there. if the president is prepared for this debate and prepared to go after him on this issue, he could probably make a pretty good argument that mitt romney is probably not prepared to

enter into this polarized congress with the experience he has and really bridge the gap between the two parties and break the gridlock >> glen, you've covered it for a long time. what do you make of the argument that he's the guy that reaches across the aisle and has a record of bipartisan sportsmanship if you will. >> a couple things that he says kind of belie what he said. he balanced the budget. he has to. in a state with 80% democratic legislature, he had to work with the democrats if he wanted to do anything. and most importantly, you've got to remember, december of '05, barely two and half years after taking office he announced he was not going to take a second term because he felt he had done all he could do with the legislate tlur. so he announced three years in office he was not going to seek

a second term because he could no longer work with anything substantive. >> glen johnson, a.b. stoddard, thank you to you both. the president heads to the old dominion. coming up we'll head live to the commonwealth to see what's on his agenda bus. and coming up, what might have been said thursday night. this is msnbc, the place for politics. c'mon, michael! get in the game! [ male announcer ] don't have the hops for hoops with your buddies? lost your appetite for romance? and your mood is on its way down. you might not just be getting older. you might have a treatable condition called low testosterone or low t. millions of men, forty-five or older, may have low t. so talk to your doctor about low t. hey, michael! [ male announcer ] and step out of the shadows. hi! how are you? [ male announcer ] learn more at isitlowt.com. [ laughs ] hey!

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